TRACK & FIELD: Spring-Ford boys, Methacton girls finish perfect year

ROYERSFORD — What looked on paper like a tough final dual meet challenge for the Spring-Ford boys track and field team turned into an easy Pioneer Athletic Conference win for the Rams.

And what looked like another notch in the Methacton girls’ undefeated belt proved to be just that.

On the boys side, Spring-Ford and Methacton both came in with undefeated 8-0 PAC-10 records Wednesday afternoon, but it was the Rams who rolled over the Warriors, 103-47, to finish at 9-0 and undefeated in duals for the third straight year.

The Methacton girls hadn’t lost a dual meet in seven years, and they made it eight straight by beating the Rams 102-48 to close the regular season again at 9-0, with the Rams signing off at 6-3.

The Rams boys were led by junior Joe Bush with three wins, including two sprint wins over Methacton standout Brandon Bossard — the 100 meters (10.9) and 200 meters (22.2) — to go with a win in the long jump (22 3/4).

“That was my main goal today, to beat Bossard in the 100 because he had beaten me two weeks ago at the Perkiomen Valley Invitational,” Bush said. “So I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not losing to him here.’ And I tied my personal best in the 100.”

Rams junior Ryan Connelly won both boys hurdles — the 300 hurdles (40.1) and the 110 hurdles with a school record 14.8 that erased a 25-year-old school mark.

Rams pole vaulter Ryan Pierson, who started the season with a school record and kept pushing it higher with nearly every meet, did it again with yet another win and another new record at 15-0.

The Rams’ David O’Such won the 400 (49.3), Mike Cassidy won the 3,200 (10:07.2), Mike Goodrich took the shot put (42-3 1/2) and Brandon Leacraft was vicorious in the javelin (161-4).

Warriors distance standout Curtis Watro won his events easily, crossing first in the 1,600 (4:27.6) and the 800 (2:01.4). But with a Warrior win already out of each, he passed on running the 3,200.

On the girls side, Methacton coach Rob Ronzano keeps cranking out fabulous freshmen year after year, a huge part of the team’s continued success. This season it is Caroline Duffy, who ran away from the field for four big wins: the 100 (12.3), 200 (25.8), 400 (58.3) and 4x400 relay.

Sophomore Jenny Martin won the 100 high hurdles (15.1), the long jump (17-8 3/4) and ran on the winning 4X100 relay. Brianna Earnshaw won he 800 (2:24.5) and anchored the winning 4x800 relay while Zoe Bongiovanni won the 300 hurdles (47.6) and Abby Konkoly took the 1,600 (5:37.6).

With Warriors distance standout Kara Steinke missing due to illness, the Rams’ Sam Christman won the 3,200 (12:37.7).

For the Rams’ boys, depth is the story of the year. Twenty-two seniors marched halfway across the field (and 14 Rams girls), prior to the meet to bid their formal farewell. And there are still plenty of underclassmen in reserve, including the standout Bush.

By then Bush had already won the long jump. All that with a bad right knee that had sidelined him for the past two weeks.

“I knew this was our last dual meet so I wanted to come out strong, finish good,” Bush said.

Beating Bossard again in the 200 was just the icing on the cake.

“It’s a great competition,” said Bossard, who did anchor the 4x100 that held off Bush and the Rams. “We raced at the Perk Valley Invitational and that was close. It’s good to race against someone like Joe because then it brings out the best in me. I know I was more pumped for this meet. I hope all the other guys are pumped. Hopefully we can pull it out. Whenever you go against the defending champion, you’ve got to bring your best.”

Connelly didn’t even know he had set a record, his coach had to mention it to him. That 110 hurdle record, set by Scott Helverson with a 15.0, dated back to 1989.

“To get that record was my goal last year, but definitely this year,” Connelly said. “The weather was perfect for it today.”

On this day, though. the most important thing was winning.

“Because Methacton is a really good team,” Connelly said. “We definitely couldn’t take them lightly. We felt it was definitely a possibility for us to win the league again this year. We’re pretty good in a lot of events. And we’re really deep in a lot of the events.”

That’s putting it mildly. Watro tied his personal best with that 4:27 in the mile.

“Of course we’re more pumped,” Watro had said after his 1,600 win, when the boys outcome still hung in the balance. “It’s going to be tough, they’ve got good mid-distance runners. We want to go into the league championships with an undefeated record. But, only one team can.”

And that will be the Rams.“It’s a hard event,” Duffy said after that 400, fighting for air. “But, hopefully, yes, we can keep the wins going. I was really excited for today, with this being the last dual meet. Spring-Ford is great competition, a lot of good athletes on that team. Going undefeated for so long is great, but we don’t come in just counting on winning. There’s a lot of good competition out there.”

On the girls side, last year Martin was the freshman wonder. This year she already looks like a seasoned pro.

“We’re really trying our best every meet,” Martin said. “And we’re trying to get ready for next week, the championship meet.”

For Earnshaw, a senior, it was her final dual meet.

“I was definitely fortunate to have been part of this team and such a great program for so long,” Earnshaw said. “My last dual meet, I was going to give it all I got I knew if we tried our best, we could probably win again today. You don’t think about how many meets you have, you just think about winning the meet you are competing in that day. Now we know we’ll have to compete hard next week at the PAC-10 meet. I’m excited about my last PAC-10 championship meet.”

For Ronzano, the coach who has guided this girls team through eight undefeated dual seasons, next week’s championship was already on his mind.

“One more biggie left to go,” Ronzano said. “The PAC-10 Championships, where everything comes together. We do know there are good teams out there. Especially Owen J. is going to put up a battle.”

Did he ever dream the undefeated streak would last thing long?

“Honestly, as best I can, I try not to think about it,” he said. “Because this is a new group of athletes. Those kids who started it eight years ago have graduated from college. And now you have a completely new group that really doesn’t know what’s in the past. We’re very, very fortunate at Methacton. We have a great group of kids.

For Rams coach Ken DeAngelo it was a long wait through the years, but things have been perfect for the last three.

“We’re just lucky right now to have a good group of kids that are pretty good athletes. It makes it easy for a coach to coach when you have good athletes.”